Yamuna Jivana dasa and Sri Radhika devi dasi

My dear and respected Guru Maharaja,

Hare Krsna. Please accept my repeated humble obeisances unto the dust of your most merciful lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

One of Krsna’s apt and beautiful analogies in the Srimad Bhagavad-gita refers to a lotus leaf that remains untouched by water while laying on top of it.

brahmany adhaya karmani
sangam tyaktva karoti yah
lipyate na sa papena
padma-patram ivambhasa

“One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.” [Bhagavad-gita 5.10]

In pursuit of being unaffected by the inevitable dualities of material life, America today is attracted by eastern philosophies and practices. Buddhism, Mindfulness, Meditation etc. are buzz words that garner much interest. So much so, even my workplace was ready to hear a talk on the ‘Art of Meditation’. Staunch Christians also adopt Buddhist meditation practices to try to soften their path while traversing the plain harshness of the material energy. People are desperately looking for this lotus leaf experience in their life.

Unfortunately, this pursuit of pseudo-liberation is largely devoid of God consciousness. Religion and God are major taboos among modern youth. However, as the verse indicates, the key factor is ‘ brahmany adhaya karmani’- surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord – OR – offering one’s activity unto the Supreme Lord out of attachment for Him. Attachment to Krsna is a prerequisite for genuine detachment. Unintelligent and rebellious persons do not realize that the only way to actually achieve transcendence is to bathe in the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who gives us the ‘attachment to Krsna’ ingredient. So-called Meditation has little value. Jada Bharata confirms this in Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.12.12 – no other attractive process can work.

This past year, time and again, I have had the great fortune to relish how you respond in various challenging and complicated situations. You are buoyant, you float, you do not get bogged down. You move from one service to the next without attachment. Your open secret: Unflinching, constant devotional service unto Srila Prabhupada. As you repeatedly emphasized at the recently concluded Dvaraka Yatra, Krsna is very deep and mysterious. Similarly, your nature is very deep! While trying to hear from you during the Yatra, it seemed clear that you are completely absorbed in Krsna; your shelter is the Supreme Lord and loving exchanges with Him.

How can those in darkness go to the light even if the means are explained to them? It is impossible without examples as yourself. mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. We are attached to the darkness – to the sources of our misery. But the beacon of light that you hold up by your example and your divine words, drags us out of the depths of darkness of the ocean of material existence and come up to the surface to be like the lotus leaf. Service to your merciful lotus feet gives us access to the coveted lotus leaf. What a treat to sit at your feet!

I am eternally indebted to you having come into my life, to your pro-activeness in providing us shelter, to your rock-solid commitment, patience and tolerance, to your providing us the needed resources to be trained in devotional service, and to your ever-fresh presentations of Krsna consciousness during the scheduled seminars/retreats each year. You work so hard for our deliverance!

As Srila Prabhupada was constantly instructing his disciples, you are constantly instructing us too! Some years ago, you would give me the service to print out your Southwest Airlines boarding pass towards the end of each visit to St. Louis. However, this one time I did not get the booking reference from you, and so I asked: “Guru Maharaja, are you checked in?”. Your immediate response: “Yes, are you?”. Bewildered, I retreated back to my seat on the floor, sheepishly laughing, not knowing what to say. Your wit and wisdom dawned on me later. My honest answer is no: I am quite checked out. I wish to be checked in — checked into Reality, checked into my relationship with you and Krsna. Please bless me.

All glories to you on your divine appearance day!

Your wretched disciple,
Yamuna Jivana dasa